Sengoku Horizon

Look towards the Horizon

The Warring States Period: Fierce warlords fought for control of Japan, and many would perish. When a warrior falls, where does the passion they once held go? Possibly into something dear such as a favorite weapon or heirloom. These heirlooms have been labeled as “relics”, and those that carry them are labeled as “Scions." Recently more and more of these special relics have been activating, signaling the start of a great change as ancient power meets the modern world!

(The email in question arrived soon after the brief message board topic was addressed.)

Hiyo!

So, in answer to your question about building a better whip... You're right that it's not the usual forgery, but I work with alot of materials, so it's not like I couldn't hope to make something worthwhile here. You were asking about what's possible, and even though I haven't woven a whip before, I know what's involved. It is all about the strands that make it up, overall. Your basic whip is just leather, woven and tied to stay together, but there's different hides and treatments that would make it 'act' differently.

The hide strips you use could make the whip lighter and faster, though it would be trading speed for impact, because it's more smooth and fine. A heavier, more course whip would - naturally - be more forceful because it's more gripping, but the friction and the toughness of the hide would make it slower, by nature. You could have the ends treated to be stiffer and more biting, though it wouldn't be exactly as flexible. You could also go the route of multiple ends, if you think twice or more as many whipcracks is better. Then, there's embedding things in the whip. I've heard of people sticking in barbs of some kind into the things, so it grips and hurts more. I could probably do that, or put wire in the weave so it has something extra in there, but a bit more subtle.

It would be better to know what it is you want out of a whip, really. There are things that I could do, but in order to see what's really possible, I'd like to hear what you want to do and think on how that might work.

Considering what I requested to be issued with before, it was a standard whip with a fall on it. The cost and materials use, since it is just a whip, it's going to be hard to justify the difference of a master work to a standard higher quality. The weight and thickness seemed alright and had a bit of a wind up to the crack before I could get it to mimic gunfire. Due to how Japan is structured though, it was difficult to use for other purposes so it often became a rope to strangle and grab things.

I wonder if it would be possible to control the length needed, as unrealistic as that may be. A barb of some kind may add more bite but lately the enemies I had faced don't flinch in fear. Making it more intimidating would be nice since I tend to aim for exposed areas but against heavy set armors just isn't a go. A cracked explosion would be cool though to deal with that pesky later of protection but, again, unrealistic. The last thing I would want it is some toxin or poison as regaining control and avoiding getting myself infected while retaining control would be an issue. Not something I can't learn in flex to avoid but still a challenge.

Detaining people was the intent before losing it recently to adopt a bow and a knife briefly. This request was mostly to see if this weapon would still find a viable use or just get a standard one and rely on blinding and gripping as before. Apologies if this is a bit underwhelming and too abstract to something more simple of asking for a blade that's sharp and highly durable.

No no no, this isn't asking too much. This is a challenge. This is the time to rise to the occasion and see what I come up with, because you know if there's any way to make something like this work, I want to find it.

So anyway, about length. I know you can get different length whips, because you've got whips like yours, and then your got people with horses using riding crops, those short things. Given that, they must be able to make 'em crazy-long AND crazy-short. Is it shorter you want, since you're saying how much effort it takes to make a gunshot sound?

Barbs can help with grip as much as they do with bite too. They're like teeth, basically. They'll dig in when you swat or wrap it around someone. It guess you'd have to grip and pull a heavy-armored guy's leg or something, though. I can't make an armor-piercing whip unless it's got a bomb tied to the end. You wouldn't want that even if I could arrange it, but if you want more of a sting, you could work with that. Barbs might work will enough to be dipped in your bad medicine of choice, and then you sting it into him. I know you're good with a whip, so you could easily keep yourself from taking the hit instead.

Okay, so it sounds to me like you want something in a strong-hide whip that's maybe got less length to it, but not so much that you can't grip and trip, and maybe barbs because I think that some in the right place will do well. Am I close? Am I missing anything? Because I know something like this can be versatile and dangerous in the right hands, and I know you have the right hands, Suishoku.

Standard length is actually a few feet in length but the largest difference between a whip and a crop is exactly that difference. A crop is rarely seen longer than maybe over a foot or two in length when not counting falls attachments. It's a very direct item that without the falls, the park that makes the snap cracks, is a direct contact item and not very flexible to render into a whip's length as the pommel lacks the counter weight for the reach. A crop would make better use to double as a baton due to it's more shorter and stocky stature.

Making gunfire sounds is rather easy for me even in a small space. The problem I'd like to remedy is having the length be easier to adjusted itself so I won't be the one manually holding back the extra coils to compensate the size of the room or walkway. It's really embarrassing to try doing something only for the whip to grab hold of something else unintentional.

Your idea of putting a sort of metal inside the leather binding is interesting. Although I do foresee it getting cut easily, it would make grabbing limbs less likely to have an issue of the leather tearing out by the weight difference or my by own weight. I've met someone before who advertised in poisons and the like. They might still be at the school but I don't think we're on good terms to perform business.

Other than that, I think this sums up the goal. Hearing these replies from you make it sound like you can perform some wonder with this. Is there anything I need to contribute in the payment or anything like that?

I think you're probably right about the wear-and-tear on the whip, so maybe I'll make that a project of mine to see about later and do something different with yours. Something that'll be more effective. When you mention a kind of whip that adjusts its own length automatically, I think of one of those sectioning swords that whip out and retract, as needed. Only...a thought came to mind just now. Maybe I CAN do something cool here.

Apart from everything else, try this thought on for size: Whips are fairly flexible things, but you could have one that is fairly long and played out...and then pulls in on itself and stiffens up...using a small reel device in the handle using some high-test line. It basically pulls in on itself, getting smaller and tighter. It pulls taut and releases with the same button, so you get your desired effect, hands free.

As for payment...I honestly haven't given it much thought, to be honest. I keep forgetting that this is a job. I guess the little reel-motor might cost something, but mostly what I'd like is for you to be able to use a whip that you'll be completely satisfied with, beyond a doubt.

In that case, if anything does come up, let me know. I didn’t know you took up a crafting profession for this sort of thing so I wish you the best on this project, Roshi. I’m in no real hurry to see something like this done quickly since this vision may take a bit. I wonder if it needs a special grease or oil.....